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Steve Kerr says it's race-baiting to target players kneeling during National Anthem: 'We love our country'

Kerr recently said he regrets his previous behavior of avoiding questions about China and said he should have defended Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey's right to free speech

Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr slammed those who called kneeling during the national anthem a sign of disrespect, saying they are 'race-baiting'. He added that he and his supporters are looking to "eliminate racism and bigotry." 

On Friday, July 31, Kerr took to Twitter to share, "With NBA games now in full force, the inevitable race-baiting ‘kneeling is a sign of disrespect!’ tweets are coming." "Our message is clear: We love our country. And we also believe that this nation can and must do better to eliminate racism and bigotry. That is why we kneel," Kerr added. 

While Kerr claims that he is working to "eliminate racism and bigotry" he has remained silent on the human rights abuses in China, which is NBA's 4-billion dollar business partner. Many social media users have called Kerr out on this and have asked why he chooses to remain mum on the issue. One such user commented, "Steve - I love the league’s voice on social issues but why is the league totally silent on China? Hypocritical."

Another user added, "Did Steve Kerr bump his head? Which one of the multimillionaires he played with and against experience life-altering racism and bigotry that prevented them from and education and professional sports? What a virtue-signaling ahole. Meanwhile lovefest with genocidal #China #NBA."

"Did someone say something about Bigots???? What is your and the @NBA stance on China...you are so brave Kerr running our President in the ground but a gutless coward when it comes to China... smh," a third user shared. 

Yet another user who echoed the same sentiments also chimed in, "This man Kerr supports perhaps the most racist country in the world, China. He condones if not supports the ethnic cleansing of Uigher Muslims and other ethnic minorities in China. Let that hypocrisy sink in!" 

It was just last month that Kerr had joined forces with other athletes to demand that the media legitimize the Black Lives Matter movement. Kerr had chimed in and been a part of a video that featured  New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, Muslim Olympian Ibtihaj Muhammad, Maverick’s owner Mark Cuban, NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace and several others, Breitbart reports. 

In the video, Kerr had said kneeling during the national anthem is not about the flag at all. The NBA coach had pledged to "educate people that kneeling in protest never has been, and never will be, about disrespecting the flag or the men and women who serve our country." 

The video, which features all these famous personalities, ends with the collected group, saying, "I will continue to use my platform to speak out and dismantle systemic racism that Black Americans have faced for over 400 years." Kerr had also recently said he regrets his previous behavior of avoiding questions about China and said he should have defended Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey's right to free speech. 

While speaking to Candace Buckner, Kerr had said, "I handled it really poorly. I was frankly sort of tongue tied. I'm sitting there trying to figure out what I'm supposed to say to make sure I don't put the league in jeopardy but also trying to find the right balance and I realize it was probably the one time over the years when I haven't just spoken my heart and I sort of got caught in this political hail storm. It was very uncomfortable because it wasn't a topic I was very comfortable with and the circumstances were really strange."